This Custom Build in Plain City is an Entrepreneurial Couple’s Forever Home

Elizabeth and Peter Coratola are living their dream in their new custom home. 

Peter is the president and CEO of Ease Logistics, and Elizabeth is the owner of COCO the Shop, an online boutique dedicated to sourcing affordable women’s clothing. She also maintains an active community on her Instagram account, @coco_theblog, where she posts often on such topics as motherhood, mental health and home inspiration. 

The couple purchased their current land in 2015. At the time, an older farmhouse stood on the property in Plain City. They debated between a large renovation or tearing down their existing home to build custom. “We decided if we were going to invest so much into a renovation and live through that, it made more sense to wait and save more for a custom build,” Elizabeth says. 

They were able to live in their former home through much of the construction; the house was then demolished. The current outdoor pool area is where the former home used to stand. 

The couple partnered with New Avenue Architects and Engineers to plan for their upgraded abode. “They were the first people who helped us dream this up,” Elizabeth says. “We knew we wanted an open concept, a big backyard and patio, but we really let them do their jobs.” 

New Avenue recommended the Bellepoint Co. for home construction and interior design. The Coratolas loved the familial history of the company, which is owned by brothers Sam and Andrew Teitt. Sam’s wife, Jenn, leads the firm’s interior design and operations. 

Jenn Teitt says the Coratola home was an ideal project for the Bellepoint team. “It was such a great opportunity and so intriguing and fun for us because we were involved in every aspect.” Her husband, Sam, says his construction team met with the couple weekly. “We help our clients understand how to build a beautiful home and how to make their hopes, dreams and ideas real,” he says.   

When guests enter the home, they are welcomed into the family’s main floor living space. Elizabeth says it was important for that open concept space to feel unique but also still be functional with three young children. 

The couple elected to have their primary suite located down a hallway from the main family room. Jenn Teitt says this is the only room in the house with white interior windows (the rest of the windows are black). “We worked hard to continue the same feeling throughout the spaces while trying to make parts of the house feel like they were their own.” 

The kitchen is a focal point of the home, featuring an island made of claro walnut sourced from Northern California. Local furniture maker A Carpenter’s Son created the piece. “I don’t know anyone else in Ohio who has something like this,” says owner Josh Scheutzow. “It’s a conversation piece and so unique.” 

The company also built a custom poker table, a coffee table, a dining table, the basement bar top, a shuffleboard table and countertops for a golf simulator room in the basement. In addition, Scheutzow and his team repurposed the couple’s previous dining table into a desk for Peter’s office. 

Directly across the kitchen is a hearth room. A window opens directly to the outside bar and patio area so drinks and food can be passed easily to and from either side. One of Elizabeth’s favorite features here is a custom art piece from Marie + Co Studio, owned by Chelsea Bernardo, who was recommended by Bellepoint. 

The upstairs includes a landing area at the top of the stairs, which is an ideal space for their children to play. Each child has their own bedroom and full bathroom; Elizabeth says it was important to continue their design aesthetic through the home while trying to individualize each bedroom and bathroom space for their children. 

The family’s basement area includes a full bar, as well as a wine cellar. A mounted big screen TV offers a movie theater experience, surrounded by large couches. There is a main guest room with a nearby full bathroom, as well as a second guest room with built-in bunk beds designed with their family and friends’ children in mind. The couple also found built-in game consoles to entertain guests and family. A playroom is near the back of the basement, leading to a golf simulator room. 

The Coratolas partnered with Will Lehnert at Outdoor Space Design on the outdoor living area, including the pool and patio, and the configuration of the driveway, fencing and walkways. An outdoor shelter, connected to the main house, features a vaulted ceiling above a patio and bar area and grill. 

The pool was built by Quality Pools; New Avenue suggested building the retractable shade structure located above the lawn chairs. Beyond the pool is a basketball and activity court. 

Hidden Creek Landscaping in Hilliard was hired to manage all landscaping on the property. For the grass seed, the couple decided to use the hydroseeding method, which tends to be more effective than using traditional grass seeding. 

Elizabeth says one of her biggest inspirations was the social media channels of California design firm Amber Interiors, which features an organic, modern aesthetic. She perused countless other home design accounts on Instagram and Pinterest. She drew inspiration from places they have traveled, too. (The gas lanterns around the home’s exterior were inspired by a trip to Rosemary Beach in Florida.) 

“The style of the home, to me, is Elizabeth and Peter. It’s what they love and have dreamed of for years,” says Jenn Teitt, whose team met biweekly with the couple four months prior to starting construction and then throughout the buildout of the home. 

The family worked with Fabric Farms in Hilliard for custom upholstery needs, and all the live plants around the house were sourced from the Plant Gays, a local company offering plant design services that also has a shop at the East Market on the Near East Side.   

Elizabeth says “it was such a pleasure to witness” the hard work of all the different local tradespeople who worked on their new dwelling. “Peter and I have always dreamt of designing a home for our boys together, and we are so incredibly fortunate to have this house for our kids, our families and friends to make memories in.” 

This story is from the August 2023 issue of Columbus Monthly.